Roof for silos.



B. M. HEADLEY. ROOF FOR SILOS.

APPLICATION FILED ooT. 1'1, 191s.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

THE NORRIS PETERS ca. FHQTO-LITHQ. WASHING mm. D c.

B. M. HEADLEY.

ROOF FOR SILOS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 17, 1913. 1, 1 1 0,059. Patented Sept. 8, 19M

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

THE NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOTO LITHO,, WASHINGTONv D C.

BARTON M. HEADLEY, OF PATASKALA, OHIO.

30013 FOR SILOS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

Application filed October 17, 1913. Serial No. 795,632.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BARTON M. HEADLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fataskala, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roofs for Silos, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to roofs for silos and aims particularly to provide a type of structure which may be applied to the ordinary silo tank body, to permit the ready filling and settling of the same. It is well known that after ensilage is stored for a short period of time, it will settle to a marked extent. 7

My roof is so constructed that it may swing upwardly to permit filling of the tank body to its limit and also to permit tramping down of the ensilage' as it is placed herein. In carrying forth this idea, Ihave formed the roof of a plurality of substantially triangular sections movable upwardly to an upright position and subsequently movable downwardly in the direction of the sides of the silo. This downward movement is rendered desirable and practically essential because of the wind resistance the elevated sections would produce. I also aim to lock the upright sections in their raised positions, the look I desirably utilize being also capable of locking the sections in their lowcred positions.

Other objects of my invention will become more apparent after a more detailed description of the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the upper portion of a'silo showing a number of the sections in their upright positions and the remainder in their lowered positions, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1,,Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2, 4 is a face view of one of the triangular roof sections shown separate, and, Fig. 5 is a detail view of the locking mechanism desirably used by me.

In the drawings, there is shown a silo tank body 1 made of any preferred construction and shown in the present instance as comprising a series of upright boards. Passing diametrically across the upper open portion of this tank body is a board 2 held supported from the upper edge of the tank by the Z-shaped supporting members 3.

sides are made of wood Supported centrally from the board 2 is a center post 1 having its upper portion constructed to receive and support the inner ends of the substantially triangular sections 5 forming the roof portion. These triangular sections may be of any preferred construeti'on,

but their meeting edges are preferably made such to form a close joint and the upper corners of these meetingedges are provided with ridge rails 6, the-same being adapted to form a base for roof locks -7. Each side of the sections 5 is provided with an L-shaped apertured hinge member 8 adapted to loosely slide upon guide rods 9. These guide rods are preferably L-shaped, as shown, and are held slightly spaced from the sides of the silo with which they aline by means of their threaded extremities, and the nuts 10 engaging the inside and outside of the silo. The lower end of these guide rods are provided with eyes, bolts 11 freely slidable horizontally within guideways 12 formed in the ends of the supporting brackets 13. By means of this bolt and slot construction and the threaded extremity cooperating with the two nuts '10, the guide rods 9 are permitted a slight horizontal adjustment to compensate for any shrinkage or warping of the silo when its material.

hen the roof sections are in their closed positions, it is desirable to securely lock the same, and this is accomplished by the provision of a locking member as shown in Fig. 5. This locking member is pivoted to the framework of the section-by the pivot bolt 14. This bolt passes through a substatially rectangular framework formed by bending of the strap 15 and through the ends of which pass the latch member 16 normally held in its locking position by the spring 17 engaging one wall of the strap member 15 and a pin 18 passing through the locking rod itself at the opposite end. By reference to the drawings, it will be seen that this locking rod 16 engages in the upper portion of the center post 4, to lock all of the sections in their closed positions. However, upon swinging of the various sections upwardly, as is shown to the right of Figs. 1 and 3, these latch members may be swung upon their pivot to face in the opposite direction to again lock the various sections in their upright positions.

This is made possible by the provision of a through which pass or other distortable holes 19 formed plurality oi'i' guide pieces adapted to positivcly guide the locking rod 16 into holes formed in the upper edge of the silo body. This is more clearly shown at 21 in Fig. l.

In practically all silos, there is provided an external chute, this chute being shown at 22. in order that this portion may also be covered with one of the triangular sections, 1 have .i ound it necessary that this section be split into two parts, as shown at and 2%. It will be noted that each section is only provided with one hinge member similar to those designated 8 and, by referring to Figs. 1 audit, it will be noted that each of the parts and 2% is given a pivotal movement about the guide rod 9 after the same has been raised to its upright position. In this manner both sections lie adjacent opposite sides of the chute and are supported at their lower ends by outwardly extending brackets 25, it being understood that they are locked in position by a structure such as shown in Fig. 5 and as has been designated at 21.

From the above description, it will be apparent that I have provided comparatively simple means for permitting swinging of the various triangular sections comprising the reel of the silo to a vertical position and subsequently. permitting these sec-: tions to slide downwardly so as not to form a wind barrier. Further, all of the sections may be locked in either of their two extreme positions, desirably by a reversal of the looking structinre. Jitter all of the sections are in their closed positions, the slight circular open portion at the topmay be closed in any preferred manner.

What I claim, is:

l. A silo comprising a tank body, a roof formed of a plurality of substantially triangular sections, vertical guide rods carried by the side of said tank body in spaced relation thereto, the upper ends of said guide rods being bent inwardly to engage the silo body and threaded for adjustable connection therewith, brackets for supporting the lower ends of said rods, said brackets being slotted Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,

for the free inward or outward movement of the lower connection of said rods, and hinge members carried by said roof sections slidable on said rods.

2. A silo comprising a tank body, a center post, a plurality of substantially triangular roof sections, latches pivotally carried by the upper ends of said sections to lock them to said center post, guide rods carried by the side of said body, and hinge members carried by said sections and slidable on said rods to permit movement downward of said sections, said guide rods limiting such downward i'novement that the upper portion thereof projects above the silo body, said latches being reversible about their pivotal connections to engage the silo body when the sections are in their lowered positions.

3. A silo comprising a tank body, a roof formed of a plurality of substantially triangular sections, vertical guide rods carried in slightly spaced relation to the side of said tank body, the upper ends of said rods be ing horizontally adjustable, attaching means for the lower ends of said rods permitting a horizontal movement, hinge members carried by said sections and slidable on said rods, and means for locking said sections in lowered upright positions.

i. A silo comprising a tank body, a chute on the outside of said body, a roof formed of plurality of substantiziilly triangular sections, the section above said chute being divided into two sections, and means con necting said sections to the tank body permitting vertical movement downward when said sections are raised to upright positions, the connecting means for said divided section also permitting a pivotal movement outward of the parts thereof to lie adjacent the sidesof said chute.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

BARTON M. HEADLEY.

Witnesses lVALTER E. L. Boon, C. C. SHEPHERD.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1). C. 

